Last modified: 2025-08-16 by 
zachary harden
Keywords: air force | royal malaysian air force | tentera udara diraja malaysia | canton (malaysia) | crescent: points to fly (yellow) | star: 14 points (yellow) | stars: 14 points (yellow) | stars: 2 (yellow) |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
![[Air Force Flag (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my^airfo.gif)
1:2
image by Željko Heimer
See also:
Light blue with the national flag in the canton and the 14-pointed star from the air force roundel in the lower fly. Sources: Pedersen 1980 [ped80], Znamierowski 1999 [zna99] and Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00].
Mark Sensen, 27 June 1997, and Željko Heimer, 25 May 2002
![[Flag of the Chief of the Air Force]](../images/m/my^af_c.gif)
image by
Zachary Harden, 29 August 2018
I located a flag for the Chief of the Malaysian Air Force. It is the
main air force flag minus the fourteen-pointed star at the bottom fly.
Instead, there are four stars and above that is the emblem of the air
force. The flag can be seen here. I am not certain about any other rank flags for the TUDM.
Zachary Harden, 29 August 2018
![[Air Force Fin Flash (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my^fin.gif)
image
by Željko Heimer
Square vertical tricolour of light blue-dark blue-yellow. Source: Album des Pavillons 2000
[pay00].
Željko Heimer, 25 May 2002
![[Air Force Roundel (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my_round.gif)
image
by Željko Heimer
According to Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00], the roundel is light blue with a 14-pointed yellow star and a dark blue border.
Željko Heimer, 25 May 2002
The roundel is sometimes round but often square. [See fuller discussion
below.]
Olivier Corre, 12 December 2003
![[Commissioning Pennant (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my^f05e.jpg)
image located
by Nozomi Kariyasu, 3 July 2024
![[Air Force Roundel (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my^fl.gif)
low-vis; image
by Nozomi Kariyasu, 3 July 2024
![[Commissioning Pennant (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my^fle.jpg)
image located
by Nozomi Kariyasu, 3 July 2024
"The history of military aviation in Malaya started in 1936 when it was still
under British rule. The Straits Settlements Volunteer Air Force (SSVAF) was
formed by the British and equipped with Hawker Audax aircraft. In 1940 it became
the Malayan Volunteer Air Force (MVAF) and operated civil aircraft, including de
Havilland Tiger Moth, Leopard Moth and Rapide. Although this force escaped from
the Japanese invasion of Malaya, the fall of Sumatra which followed saw it
defeated by overwhelming odds. That was the end of the early air force that was
nurtured by the British."
Source:
http://www.gtitec.com.my/af_museum/exhibits/aircraft/audax.htm
The Malayan Auxiliary AF was reformed in 1950 and in 1 June 1958 the new
independent Tentera Udara di Raja Persekutuan was formed (renamed Tentera Udara
Diraja Malaysia in 1963).
According to
Cochrane & Elliott (1998), since 1963
it used a square roundel made of the yellow Malaysian star on a light blue
square with a dark blue border. The fin flash was a vertical light blue-dark
blue-yellow stripes as shown above - see the photo at
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/460850/L/.
Now the problems start -
Cochrane & Elliott (1998) reported that
since 1983 the roundel is round as in
http://homepage.eircom.net/~steven/images/malayroundel.jpg. However - I
can't find a photo with this roundel. Not that there are no photos of Malaysian
aircrafts....got plenty, but those show either a "classic" yellow-dark
blue-light blue roundel (
http://www.scramble.nl/my.htm,
http://homepage.eircom.net/~steven/images/malaymacchi.jpg,
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/461024/L/ ), or the square markings
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/201365/L/,
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/579796/L/. Even the most modern plane
(the Hornet) has small square markings on its fuselage (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/576602/L/).
Government planes use rudder stripes in AF colors and the national flag as in
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/581898/L/.
More references:
RMAF museum -
http://www.gtitec.com.my/af_museum/
http://homepage.eircom.net/~steven/royal_malaysian_airforce.htm
Dov Gutterman, 20 June 2004
On this image you can see the latest
RMAF roundel design. It is essentially the same as the one shown above, however,
the order of the two tones of blue have been reversed with the lighter blue
making up the outer ring while the darker blue makes up the inner circle. I do
not know when this new design was officially adopted but it has been
progressively replacing the older designs on newly repainted RMAF aircraft.
Amir Ashkar, 16 May 2006
![[Air Force Roundel (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my^afr2.gif)
image
by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 March 2009
David Donald (2002,
Taschenhandbuch der Militärflugzeuge; ISBN: 3-89880-122-5;
p.176) shows it as a blue roundel with a light blue edge and the yellow
11-point-star from the national flag.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12
March 2009
![[Air Force Roundel (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my^afr1.gif)
image
by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 March 2009
Another entry by
David Donald (2002,
Taschenhandbuch der Militärflugzeuge; ISBN: 3-89880-122-5;
p.176) shows it as a blue roundel with a black edge and the yellow
11-point-star from the national flag.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12
March 2009
![[Commissioning Pennant (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my^f82e.jpg)
image located
by Nozomi Kariyasu, 3 July 2024
![[Air Force Roundel 1963-1982 (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my_r1963.gif)
image by Željko Heimer
According to Cochrane and Elliott 1998 [cos98], the roundel was used since 1963 (when air force was founded) until 1982 in square form.
Željko Heimer, 25 May 2002
![[Commissioning Pennant (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my^f63e.jpg)
image located
by Nozomi Kariyasu, 3 July 2024
![[Commissioning Pennant (Malaysia)]](../images/m/my^f62e.jpg)
image located
by Nozomi Kariyasu, 3 July 2024
